It only seems that way.
The 5-9, 165-pound senior played on back-to-back 0-8 junior varsity teams as a freshman and a sophomore.
?I love football,? Gordon said. ?It?s definitely my favorite sport. But our lack of success was making me not care about it. I didn?t get much playing time as a freshman. I only had about 80 yards rushing. I did better as a sophomore, but we still didn?t win. I had no clue going into varsity football what winning was like.?
But it didn?t take Gordon long to find out. In his first game on the varsity, Gordon rushed for 126 yards and one touchdown and Brandywine beat Lawerence, 28-6.
?The varsity was a big difference,? Gordon said. ?There?s more intensity, there are more people watching and everyone is so much bigger.?
Gordon rushed for more than 1,000 yards despite missing parts of two games with injuries as Brandywine finished 5-4.
?That?s where Courtlan made his biggest jump was between his sophomore and junior years,? said Brandywine coach Mike Nate. ?Finishing 5-4 last year, that team overachieved and largely that was due to Gordon. He was about 80 percent of the offense.?
Gordon decided to make sure that the injuries didn?t happen again.
?I went out for track last spring to get faster,? said Gordon, who was part of Brandywine?s state qualifying 1,600-meter relay team. ?And all summer I ran, I worked out and I did everything I could to get ready. Knowing the conference was changing and the bigger teams were leaving, it gave us hope of making the playoffs. It pumped everyone up. We were playing more teams our own size and it gave us a chance.?
It?s paid huge dividends. Gordon has rushed for 1,489 yards, averaged 8.2 yards per attempt and scored 22 touchdowns. And the Bobcats did earn their first postseason berth in 10 years by finishing 7-2. Brandywine will travel to No. 2-ranked Schoolcraft (9-0) for an opening-round game at 7 Friday night.
?Courtlan has the speed,? Nate said. ?Running track really helped him. I saw him take a swing pass in 7-on-7 play this summer and take it up the sidelines for a touchdown. I saw that he had a gear that I didn?t see last year. He?s also stronger. He did the things necessary in the offseason to make him a better football player. he?s gotten stronger and faster.?
Nate admitted that Gordon doesn?t look powerful at first glance.
?He?s not a big physical specimen,? Nate said. ?If you saw him walking down he street, he just looks like an ordinary kid. But he has instincts about him. He?s a tough kid. And he has confidence in himself. He really enjoys the game. This kind of attitude has helped our younger kids believe we can be successful.?
Gordon is very quick.
?Courtlan has speed and the ability to make good cuts,? Nate said. ?He can grind away at you and get eight or nine yards on three or four plays in a row. All of a sudden, you?re down there ready to score. He picks up the yards. At the end of the day you look at the stats and say, ?I didn?t know you had that many.??
Gordon gives most of the credit for his success to his offensive line.
?My team helps me out,? he said. ?Our line has been super. I have better field vision because I?ve got a better team. My teammates have given me more opportunities to score.?
Gordon looks at the early-season game against New Buffalo as the turning point.
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